The light flickered gently, casting continual shadows about the room as the florescent bulbs lit the space. The sounds of the keyboard clicked in an obscured pattern as I hunted and pecked for the right message to communicate. I had procrastinated much of my computer work, interacting with the office all day and now had to stay late to work on my operations planning. I was never formally taught how to type so I smashed my index fingers against the keys a dozen words behind what I was thinking. Each word I typed would be read again in my head. I tried to maintain pace with my lag in typing skills, creating each word on my keyboard before looking up to the screen. The process was tiresome, but I had to get the work done.
It was late and the day was wearing on my patience as I clicked away through the process. I thought deeply about the message that I was looking to communicate. I had the direction and the content but just needed the time to complete my project. The air blew through the ceiling vent that sat directly above my desk and a shiver ran down my neck, taking my focus off the task at hand.
I stared at the screen, the curser blinking in tempo with the flicker of the lights. The repetition of flicker and the monotony of the typing were getting to me. My mind wanders and I realize I need to get up and take a walk. I pushed my chair back and it bumps against the half empty trashcan that sits behind my desk. It spins a quarter turn and comes to rest against the wall as I stand up and push out of the chair. I rub my eyes and inhale a large yawn as I stretch and walk to go find a vending machine. The building is quiet, only the sound of my footsteps against the carpet as I walk toward the door.
The pushed the handle, a panic bar, to open with a loud click that echoes in the empty hall outside of my office. My footsteps tap and squeak on the freshly cleaned tile floor, I turn the corner and walk down the hall to find a vending machine; caffeine and a snack are what I need to move this forward. The Coke machine hummed as I approached, shuffling through my pocket for the loose change I carried for the moment. The clink of the quarters entering the coin slot was rewarded with the tumbling of a soda down for me to retrieve. The soda machine vibrated alive and the hum increased in both speed and tone.
I stepped back with my drink in hand and located the snack machine. E12: the key to my happiness was the Snickers candy bar that rested at eye level on the other side of the glass. The spring twisted a half turn and released my quarry to the receptacle behind a door flap at the bottom of the machine. I pushed through the door that housed my reward and grasped the candy bar with the delight of a child. An ice-cold Coke and a room temperature Snickers bar; only those that have worked in the late hours know the bliss that I had in my future.
The building lights began to dim as the facility moved to the scheduled overnight lowered light as I made my way down the hall to my office. I turn the corner to my door, which had just been opened by the overnight cleaning crew that was about to enter. I walked over and held the door open as the crew pushed their carts inside, the last dragging a vacuum behind him. He nodded at me as a thank you for holding the door and, like bees, they went to work. The sound was immediately active as trashcans were emptied, surfaces wiped down, and the floors were vacuumed. The conversations between the crew were a mix of broken English and laughter as they hurried through their task. I sat in my office and popped the top to my soda, and as quickly as they arrived, they shuffled their equipment out the door.
The sweat that gathered on the can puddled at the base and had me quickly looking for something to wipe it up. In the top drawer of my desk I had several condiments, napkins and menus from local restaurants. I grabbed the first napkin I could find and quickly cleaned up and tossed it in the bin behind me.
I turn back to the task at hand. There is a Snickers and a Coke that need my attention. I look at the droplets on the bright red can, gravity slowly dragging each down to the desk. I am witnessing a commercial in front of me as the ice-cold Coke begs me to stare. I grasp the can and bring it to my lips, the chill stings as the crisp sweetness makes its way into my mouth. The bubbles tap at my tongue and throat like the sound of rain on a tin roof. The first sip delivering a range of sounds in the quiet solitude of my office ending with a slight burp that escapes my mouth in surprise.
The candy bar laid next to my mouse, just to the right of the computer. I click on the playlist on the desktop to change the song and turn to the candy bar. It is smaller than a cell phone but is one of the few things that has more control over my activity. The wrapper a dark brown plastic with a classic red, white and blue label that sits in the center. The edges of the wrapper pressed together in a jagged finish to make tearing the plastic open an easier task. I am not someone who has ever met a candy bar I do not like but will say I have often gone to the store in search of this particular one.
I tear from the backside of the wrapper, opening easily down the center and revealing the chocolate bar. Chocolate sticks to the wrapper slightly as I peel the plastic away from the candy. I can feel the surface beneath the wrapper give under the heat of my fingers and it is clear that this bar needs to be eaten now. I take the first bite, my teeth breaking the surface of the chocolate, melting immediately upon breaking through the caramel, peanuts and nougat. The peanuts crunch between my teeth in each chew and the texture adds to the enjoyment of the first bite. The flavor of the candy bar changes in complexity as each chew adds to why I love it. Each bite a repetitious delivery on the flavors that I crave.
The snack is about a 15 minute endeavor as I wash each bite down with the ice-cold coke. The dance of the Snickers and Coke played out in my office in repetition until the wrapper and the can were empty. Each bite and every drink equaled the promise the logo had made when I purchased them. Cold soda and warm chocolate, a metaphor for the late night effort.
Sitting in front of my computer enjoying a Coke and Snickers is something that always reminds me of those late nights. The creaminess of the warm chocolate and the bite of the carbonation from the Coke. The thing that is most dynamic about the combination of soda and candy is that the expectation has never changed. I know what I can expect when I see the logo. These companies have delivered on my expectations and ultimately have earned my loyalty to the brand because of their consistency. They have retained me as a consumer.
We as managers want a similar return from the staff we employ. In this analogy, they can either be the service provider or the consumer. As a manager, I must be dedicated to creating the best environment for my team in which they become the consumer. As I have stated to my leadership teams many times, team members are only interviewed once before they get the job. Every day after being hired, we in leadership are being interviewed for why they should stay.
Our responsibility to our teams is to create training that communicate to our employees where our value structure is and how we will consistently deliver on that expectation. Just as I have a relationship with these two products in my story, our product in service is how we communicate who we are and who we want to be. This is created through our training process and how we communicate through our own example. We want our teams to be engaged with the service they provide as I have been with these two products.
Each interaction is like the bite of a candy bar: we are expecting the taste to be consistent. When managers deviate from the brand expectation, it is like changing the flavor of candy that the employee was expecting in the wrapper.
I am a fanatic about my Coke and Snickers, but if either tasted like shoe even once in my experience, it would have ruined my relationship with them. The key to brand loyalty is that it must be consistent to achieve the return on investment. In the service industry, our consistency can only be achieved through training and repetition. Our retention of staff can only be achieved if training is a consistent component in the delivery of services to our teams.
Trainings are the delivery of content in an approach that connects with the employee. Every employee is looking to receive training so they can be successful and connect with the organization they represent. Connecting with our team members in training is creating content that is both relatable and achievable while considering the wants and needs of the individual being trained. Trainings are an opportunity to deliver to employees who we want to be as an organization and how they can make an impact. We are delivering on our brand with each interaction that we have with the intent of retaining employees through knowledge, treatment, and expectation.
Retention is a goal of every good leader and training is the vehicle.